Venice to Cinque de Terre?
 

In April we will be travelling from Canada to Italy for a holiday, and looking for a little advice.

Could anybody recommend the best way to travel from Venice to Cinq-de-terre?

In Venice we will be travelling from a street called Calle del Vin (2 minutes walking from S.Marco square). We are wanting to travel from there to Vernazza in the Cinque-de-Terre area.

This is a first trip for us so looking for any helpful advice. I suppose the best way is by train?

If so, we would like to know how to get to the train station in Venice, and if we have to book tickets ahead of time? Also would we be switching trains along the way?

Sorry if these sound like dumb questions, but we really are rookies when it comes to Europe.

Thanks very much for any help.

In 1997, we started in Venice and then went to the Cinque Terre by train and then on to the French Riviera. We took a night train between Venice and Santa Margherita Ligure. It was okay, but not sure I would recommend it as it was bumpy and neither of us got a lot of sleep. Might be affordable, though, as you would not need a hotel for the night.

You can read my trip report as see my photos at:
www.travelswithdiane.homestead.com/Italy1.html

This past May, we did a similar train ride, from Venice to Santa Margherita Ligure. We arrived in SML around 9 p.m., and we changed trains just once. We bought our ticket at the station, as it's not very crowded in May and we weren't worried about it being sold out.

FYI, Santa Margherita Ligure is a great little port city for a base, as the Cinque Terre is just a short train ride from there. It's a less crowded option than CT, depending on the season. Also Portofino is a short bus ride from SML. If you want more info. on SML, here's the link to my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34817303

:)>-

It's a little over 6 hours from Venice to SML by train. There are trains leavingYou'll probably change trains in Milan and Rapallo. You shouldn't need to buy the tickets ahead of time. I don't know if you're flying into Venice or taking the train in, but you could buy the tickets at the train station anytime you happen to be there.
If you leave about 8 or so in the morning, that would put you into SML anywhere from 2:30 pm to about 6 pm depending on the train you take and layovers in Milan or Rapallo.
You can take a vaporetto to the train station or spend more money and go by water taxi. If you're spending 3 days or so in Venice, it would benefit you to buy the 3 day vaporetto pass for about 25 Euros each. You can hop on and off all you want, and you can also take the vaporetto to Murano or Burano.
No, those are NOT stupid questions, they're questions every first timer has. Good luck.
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We did exactly this about 3 years ago. We also stayed near piazza San Marco, and I think we took the vaporetto to the train station.
We took a direct train to Monterosso and I think the ride was about 5 hrs. The train left Venice about 10 in the morning; we bought the tickets the day before.

Hope this helps.

Hi M,

www.mappy.com will show you how to walk to the train station.

www.actv.it will give you vaporetto routes

www.trenitalia.com will give you train routes.

Weather on the CT is iffy in early April.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

Thanks for the help folks.

The direct train from Venice to Monterosso sounds good - as that is not far from our destination of Vernazza.

Do you get this train from the Santa Lucia train station - or the Mestre station?

Any idea what time & days this train leaves Venice?

Thanks again

Check train times on www.bahn.de or times and fares on www.trenitalia.com. Try entering Venezia Santa Lucia as your starting point and Vernazza as your destination.

We did this last September and the train from Venice does stop in Vernazza.

Yes there are a few direct Venice - 5 Terre trains a day i believe and you'd leave from Santa Lucia but check the www.bahn.de site recommended above and be sure to put in Venise (even English version of bahn site prefers Venise) Santa Lucia to get the connections.

While in Venice, it might help to buy tickets the day before from a travel agent. Your guidebook SHOULD list a couple (I know the Rick Steves book does). They can help you with times, etc, and then you'll know when to show up at the train station, rather than just showing up, buying your ticket, and having to wait for the train.